166 THE SALMON. 



ment ought to bring in a Bill applying these recom- 

 mendations to Scotland generally. 



About the same time that this committee of the 

 House of Lords was sitting on the case of Scotland, a 

 Royal Commission was making its perambulations in an 

 inquiry into the case of England ; and that Commission 

 unanimously came to similar conclusions with the Lords' 

 Committee in regard to the suppression of fixed engines, 

 the lengthening of close-time, and all other matters of 

 importance. 



Next year (1861), the Lord Advocate, in pursuance 

 of the recommendation of the Lords' Committee, brought 

 in a Bill for Scotland, aiming to carry into law all the 

 propositions of the Committee, with the necessary sup- 

 plements and adjuncts. All fixtures were to be sup- 

 pressed ; the annual close-time was to extend from 21st 

 August to 15th February, instead of from 15th of Sep- 

 tember to 31st of January ; the weekly close- time was 

 to be extended from twenty-four to thirty-eight hours ; 

 and various other alterations were proposed, all in the 

 right direction. This excellent measure, however, met a 

 sad fate by an unusual process. In an evil hour, and per- 

 haps because the sons of Zeruiah were too hard for him, 

 the Lord Advocate consented to refer his Bill to a Select 

 Committee of the House of Commons, the selection of 

 which proceeded on a principle quite different from, or 

 rather opposite to, that usually acted on in the appoint- 

 ment of tribunals of that or any other species. The 

 members were selected, not because they had any special 

 knowledge of the matter, but because one or more of 

 their constituents had special interests in the matter; 



